Latest Lessons

Nearly all of the greats use arpeggios. Yet, if you're like a lot of guitarists, you might be shying away from them because you fear being overwhelmed by the "Twin Ts": theory and technique. If you have a basic understanding of how chords work, though, it's high time to get your feet wet.

We all have busy lives and responsibilities that distract us from our playing. For this reason, I've developed a quick, intensive guitar "workout" that can be completed in 30 minutes. You can use this by itself as a quick practice when time is limited or incorporate it into a longer practice session. Either way, this workout will help develop your playing in a number of important areas.

These lessons are aimed at breaking through barriers that might be preventing you from improving on the guitar. Some of these lessons will simply give you some good food for thought, and some will be more hands-on. Written to help you get past that plateau, these lessons are here to help you mix things up and keep your relationship with the guitar an interesting one.

The notes in this scale are B, D, E, F, F#, A, with the F being the flat five or added note. Without a doubt, the blues scale is one of the most frequently used scales in rock soloing, and for good reason! When played slow and clean, it sounds very dark, dirty and bluesy. When played more aggressively with legato and tapping, it sounds incredibly modern.

All things that are truly great only become greater with the passing of time, an attribute that can certainly be applied to the incredible music of the legendary Jimi Hendrix. The power, passion, individuality and influence of Jimi’s instantly recognizable style are more apparent now than ever and his legacy will continue to grow as the years pass.

These videos and audio files are bonus content related to the April 2015 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now or at the Guitar World Online Store.

These videos and audio files are bonus content related to the April 2015 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now or at the Guitar World Online Store.

In his latest instructional video (posted February 5), guitarist Troy Grady investigates one of the unusual asymmetrical groupings of Yngwie Malmsteen’s scale playing: a concept known as "sevens." It's a classic and fascinating example of Malmsteen's unorthodox hybrid fretboard shapes. For more about Grady's Masters in Mechanics series, visit troygrady.com.

In this article I’d like to acquaint you with some great slide licks I like to play in open A tuning. These riffs and runs are super versatile – you can use them to hop up your own blues pieces, employ them as solos in a classic blues song or even just entertain yourself with them on a back porch in the middle of a scorching heat wave.